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Pittella in South America: Europe and Latin America must go hand in hand to face global challenges

As of Monday, the President of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, will be on mission in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile to support and strengthen the political ties with progressive sister parties and to exchange views on EU-MERCUSUR and EU-Chile trade agreements.

In Argentina, President Pittella will hold a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Faurie and with the leader of the Partido Socialista.

In Uruguay meetings are planned with the Vice-President Lucía Topolansky, the Minister of Economy, Danilo Astori, the President of the Lower Chamber, José Carlos Mahia and the President of the Fruente Amplio, Javier Miranda.

In Chile, the leader of the S&D group will meet with Senator, Isabel Allende and the Allende Foundation, the Nueva Mayoria´s candidate for the presidential elections, Alejandro Guillier and also the President of the PS Chile, Álvaro Elizalde.

The S&D President, Gianni Pittella, stated:

“Particularly in these times in which the European Union stands up for multilateral governance, fair and free trade - needs allies to tackle global challenges Latin America is our ally. Following the isolationist drift of the US, the ties between Europe and Latin America should be reinforced to gain increased momentum.

“We advocate for a Mercosur agreement as well as an updated Association Agreement with Chile, based on transparent, balanced and fair trade principles. With our sister parties, we will underline the need for progressive policies in order to face common challenges. We will also focus on global challenges, G20 and the multilateralism intended to manage issues of common interests such as climate change, migration and economic governance”.